Donation of water rescue equipment to the Stevens Point, WI fire department . Image courtesy: WAOW TV
STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Through local grants and donations, the Stevens Point Fire Department has announced significant equipment upgrades to their Water and Ice rescue team.
Funding sources included $2,600 from the Arthur E. Hintz Charitable Foundation and $2,400 from the Wellness Mission Fund of Portage County via the Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin, and $500 donated by the Wisconsin League of Musky Anglers.
With the funds, SPFD has purchased two Garmin Echomap units, which will enhance the department’s ability to quickly locate individuals or objects underwater.
“It is a huge improvement from what we used to have, where we took a pike pole and slowly probed the water until we felt what was a body,” said SPFD Lieutenant, Benjamin Schultz. “Now with the capabilities that we have here with side scan and live scope, we get to see approximately 100 feet wide behind the back of the boat, or point and shoot in front of the boat (up to 100 feet) to better locate somebody.”
Taps and Tackle Company assisted in demonstration and training of the equipment, and helped the department select the right technology.
“In an outdoor world, fishing world, guys use it to find fish and structure, but if you need locate something it is in real time,” said Taps and Tackle Co. Owner, Jozef Wojciehoski. “As long as you know how to read what you are looking at, you can pretty much decipher almost anything to a 60, 70, or 80 feet of water.”
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